


How to Plan a Romantic Birthday for Dummies

by bzou



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Autistic Kageyama Tobio, Birthday, M/M, commission
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-17
Updated: 2017-11-17
Packaged: 2019-02-03 17:39:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,690
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12753042
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bzou/pseuds/bzou
Summary: Kageyama forgot his boyfriend's birthday and has to scramble to plan a romantic date, despite not knowing a thing about them.





	How to Plan a Romantic Birthday for Dummies

**Author's Note:**

> Commission for Sara! A kurokage birthday fic for Kuroo's birthday, since I couldn't do one last year :')  
> (Commissions still open!)

Kageyama groaned, the sun beating down mercilessly on his poor retinas, despite his eyes being closed. He flopped an arm over his eyes, half-awake and defiant, willing the morning away so he could have a few more hours of peaceful, well-deserved sleep.

Kuroo rolled over with his own groan, flopping his own arm over his own sleepy boyfriend. He pulled Kageyama closer to his side, sighing wistfully. “Wish I could spend the day with you in bed,” he said, his voice still groggy and laden with sleep. Kageyama responded with an agreeing grunt – he needed another half hour at _least_ before he could communicate beyond various grunts. Luckily for him, his boyfriend speaks Tired Tobio.

Kuroo laughs, quiet and breathy, squeezing Kageyama against him. “I’d call in sick but I think they’d know I’m faking.”

He spent another minute or two in bed, his boyfriend sapping his warmth on the chilly November day and enjoying every second of it before he dragged himself up, earning himself a grunt of protest and Kageyama curling in on himself in the absence of warmth, pulling their comforter up to his chin.

Kuroo laughed and leaned over to kiss in the disarray of his boyfriend’s hair before he stretched, popping his back and his neck and heaved himself out of bed and headed off to the bathroom.

“We’ll just have to start my birthday later.”

Kageyama’s eyes snapped open, the rush of adrenaline fuelled panic and dread waking him up fully as he heard the door click shut and the water start a minute later.

It was the seventeenth.

It was Kuroo’s birthday.

And he’d completely forgot.

He jumped out of bed like he’d been burned, throwing the covers off him haphazardly and getting himself all tangled up in them, nearly tumbling completely out of bed before he freed himself from their grip. He snatched up a pair of crumpled jeans from the floor and hastily stuffed a leg in them, hopping around on his other foot and nearly knocking a stack of books off the desk tucked away in the bedroom’s corner.

_How_ could he forget Kuroo’s birthday? Well, he knows how _he_ could forget – Kageyama was never gifted with a great memory nor was he good with dates and times, not to mention volleyball had kept him running ragged lately on top of exams, but no matter the laundry list of excuses, that’s just what they were. Excuses. And he cursed himself for forgetting Kuroo’s birthday.

He had stopped after he’d pulled a shirt over his head; he needed to _think_ , he needed to reorganize, figure things out.

A gift. He needed a gift. And dinner. Dinner he could do, maybe that could be his gift, lord knows he never cooks. But there was a reason he never cooked, he thought as the memory of the _last_ time he tried to cook for Kuroo came flooding back. He thought pressure cookers were the easiest thing to use but he still had to pry loose the lid embedded in the kitchen ceiling.

No cooking. He can order in or take Kuroo out. That still left the gift, though. He tried to wrack his memories for anything Kuroo could’ve mentioned as he paced their bedroom. More books? No, Kuroo had a ton already, and it’s not like Kageyama could guess which were particularly good or Kuroo would enjoy. It also wasn’t very personal, and he needed something personal, meaningful, to show Kuroo he cared.

What about clothes? No, he had zero fashion sense, Kuroo would end up dressing in Nike, Adidas, and Reebok, like a sports Frankenstein. And it, _again_ , wasn’t meaningful.

God, what did couples give each other for their birthdays? This was the first birthday of Kuroo’s they were going to spend together as a couple and Kageyama was already awful getting gifts under _normal_ circumstances, but this... this was way out of his league.

His thoughts were interrupted when he heard the water shut off and Kuroo re-enter, clad in only a towel and his hair sopping wet.

“Oh, getting up?” he asked, running a hand towel through his hair in a feeble attempt to dry it.

“U-uh,” Kageyama stuttered, “yeah! I... I got things to do, yeah, very busy.”

Kuroo gave him a look before he cracked a grin. “Alright,” he laughed, “okay, I got it.” Kageyama frowned at him. “What?”

“Whaddya mean what, what are you laughing about?”

“Nothing! Nothing, I swear,” Kuroo insisted but he still laughed. “You’re just really bad at hiding stuff okay? You’re cute but a terrible liar.”

Kageyama frowned more, earning himself a kiss on the cheek when Kuroo grabbed his outfit for the day. “Whatever it is you’ve got planned, I’ll love it.”

Kageyama felt the ball of anxiety grow in the pit of his stomach as he watched his very content boyfriend leave with a little wave.

He really needed a good plan. And a better gift. And fast.

Something heartfelt right? What about a poem, or a letter? That’s something he could attempt. And attempt he did, as he cleared their shared desk and sat at it, trying his damndest to put his feelings into words, but words were never his forte. Kuroo made him feel all... warm and aaah inside, and he liked the little things, like when Kuroo squeezed him in his sleep or when he let Kageyama bury his hands in his soft hair, and it made him feel like a million exclamation points.

But while he could feel it bloom in his chest, he could not translate it to the page. And after an hour of trying, he threw in the towel and the crumpled up drafts in the garbage, deciding to call in reinforcements.

And who better than Kuroo’s best friend?

“Hello?” Bokuto answered, clearly half-awake.

“I need help,” Kageyama said, getting right down to it.

“Who is this?” he slurred.

“Kageyama. I need a gift for Kuroo.”

“A gift? Dude, isn’t it, like, his birthday?”

“ _Yeah_ , that’s why I _need_ it _now._ ”

“Alright, alright,” Bokuto sighed. “Well, what do you need my help for?”

“Has he mentioned anything he really wants to you?”

“I dunno, I don’t think so?”

Kageyama sighed in exasperation, throwing his hands up in the air.

“Oh, wait!” Bokuto said, snapping his fingers. “You could dress up in one of those little maid dresses with the cat ears, you know he’s into that shit, and wait for him to get home and you can-”

“Oh my god, _no_!” Kageyama interrupted, disgusted and red-faced.

“What, you not into that?”

“No, I a- that’s not the point!” Kageyama could feel the blush down his neck, and shook his head. “You know what, forget it. I wanted to do something _personal_ and to show that I care.”

“You could try going back a week and remembering his birthday.”

“You don’t think I’d do that if I could,” Kageyama hissed. “You’re no help.”

Bokuto hummed in thought, ignoring the comment. “Well, Kuroo’s a hopeless romantic, and never fucking shuts up about you. Run with that.”

“How am I supposed to run with that?”

“What, you want me to take him on the birthday date for you, too, figure it out!”

“Fine,” Kageyama huffed, mumbling a goodbye and hanging up. Kuroo may be a hopeless romantic, but Kageyama was hopeless when it came to romance. Where was he supposed to start with that?

Kuroo was pretty sappy, though, even if he didn’t look like it. Kageyama was surprised about how traditional their first date had been – dinner and a walk in the park. It was nice, sure, he loved it, but since then their dates had consisted a lot of hanging out at home or playing it by ear while out. A lot of the time they didn’t end up doing anything super “date-y” and just enjoyed each other’s company. Maybe Kuroo missed the traditional, romantic dates.

Kageyama grabbed his coat and slipped on his shoes, heading out into town to put his plan into action.

 

 

Kageyama looked himself up and down in their stand up mirror, pulling on his collar. He hated this outfit, it was so stiff and starchy and nowhere near the loose, comfy, worn-in athletic wear and jeans he normally wore. This outfit he usually reserved for extremely formal occasions and meeting parents, otherwise it spent the rest of the year buried in their closet. He’d buttoned the dress shirt all the way up to the top and the cuffs too, adjusting them on his wrists. He felt so restricted.

He was leaving the shoes for last. They were nice and shiny but incredibly uncomfortable. Guess that’s what he gets for wearing worn-in running shoes the rest of the time.

But he’d suffer for Kuroo. He had dinner reservations all set up at some fancy restaurant in the city where he couldn’t pronounce a single one of their dishes, which clued him in on it being a desired date spot. It was also the fifth restaurant he tried, striking out everywhere else in getting a reservation so late.

After dinner they could take a walk in the park like they did on their first date, and the park close by had a live band playing this evening and even a skating rink that opened up just the weekend before, it was perfect. What was more romantic than walking around a park with all the holiday decorations up and lovely music playing?

Maybe he was getting good at this whole romantic date thing.

He’d also picked up a bunch of little gifts that he’d found while running around town, but those were by far the least romantic thing he’d done. They were just things that caught his eye and he thought Kuroo’d like, like a little bonus on top of their date. He’d also spent the evening wrapping them all himself, the lumps of paper and ribbon and an unnatural amount of tape sitting in their living room.

When he heard the keys in the door, he knew it was show time and went to greet him.

“Hey!” Kuroo grinned at him from the front hall, taking off his shoes and scarf. “You look all fancy.” He walked over to Kageyama and gave him a quick kiss on the forehead. “What’s up?”

“Your birthday,” Kageyama said simply.

“My birthday?” Kuroo laughed. “What does your parent-meeting outfit have to do with that, are we gonna go see my mom, or...?”

“No, we’re going out.” Kageyama pulled on his collar again. “You should probably change, too, we gotta head out soon if we wanna make our reservation.”

“Reservation?” Kuroo’s face quirked in confusion, though his smile remained. “That sounds pretty formal.”

Kageyama nodded, “Well, yeah.” He readjusted his cuffs again. “Goin’ on one of those fancy dates you like, I have it all planned out.”

Kuroo laughed and took Kageyama by the shoulders gently. “You look super uncomfortable.”

He shrugged. “It’s fine.”

“You hate that outfit, I know it.”

“So? These places don’t really like when you walk in in jeans and a sweater, and it doesn’t fit the whole romantic date thing anyway.”

“What kind of a place was this?”

“I dunno, something fancy, I couldn’t even read the menu.”

“You hate fancy food.”

“Yeah, but it’s _your_ birthday, and you like to do this stuff, and I just figured...” Kageyama shrugged, smoothing the back of his head, “we haven’t gone on a real date in a while.”

“Whaddya mean, we just went out on Saturday?”

“Yeah, down the street for take-out, which we just brought home. I just thought we haven’t really done what you’ve wanted to do and that you’d want to for your birthday.”

“Tobio, I like doing _that_ , and I’d much rather do something alone with you at home with food you can actually eat and for you to be comfortable than anything else.”

Kageyama frowned and Kuroo laughed again, pulling him into a hug which he reluctantly returned. He didn’t mind sacrificing comfort if it made Kuroo happy, but it seemed all his planning kind of backfired.

“Besides,” Kuroo began, “if we went out now, I wouldn’t get to open all these gifts.”

Kageyama pulled away and looked at the pile of haphazardly wrapped gifts behind him on the coffee table. He wanted to make Kuroo’s birthday special and now they were just going to sit at home and open his shitty every-day gifts?

Kuroo kissed his temple and pushed him in the direction of their room. “Go change.”

When Kageyama came back, a little dejected but a lot more comfortable, he joined Kuroo on the couch watching his boyfriend rub his hands together like a greedy little fly before diving in.

He only made fun of Kageyama’s terrible wrapping job twice, which was good, and his smile grew with every gift he unwrapped, which was better.

Kageyama managed to find his favourite movie on DVD, since they didn’t own it yet, and Kuroo seemed genuinely happy about it, turning to him and waving the case. “Oh, we are watching this tonight.”

He also found a book of short, interesting, and completely useless facts that he thought Kuroo could read in short bursts, since he liked learning weird information all the time. Kageyama thought it wasn’t really very special, something he’d probably pick up for him any other day, but Kuroo was thrilled, already cracking it open and reading aloud some of the strange trivia. Even Kageyama managed to crack a smile.

When Kuroo unwrapped the lumpiest of gifts, he seemed a bit confused at first, which was to be expected.

Kuroo stared at the stuffed cat in his hands when Kageyama explained, “It just reminds me of you; see, it’s got the lopsided grin and it’s all soft and warm...” Kuroo wasn’t as excited about this as the others, but the warm smile and soft kiss Kageyama got told him he probably liked it best.

He didn’t wrap the box of Kuroo’s favourite snacks he picked up at the corner store, but it wasn’t necessary when they dug into it almost immediately after starting the movie, spoiling their dinner that Kageyama ordered as Kuroo flipped through his new book.

They spent the evening watching Kuroo’s sappy romance movie (“For Halloween next year, would you dress up like Princess Buttercup?” “No.” “C’mon, I’ll be Westley!” “No.”) until Kageyama fell asleep on top of his boyfriend. It wasn’t his fault, he’d been running around all day, and Kuroo was comfortable and warm and solid and made him feel safe when he hugged him with one arm and ate seafood crackers with the other.

When the movie was over, Kuroo carefully manoeuvred his sleepy boyfriend into his arms to carry him to bed – sometimes he slept like an absolute rock, which made his job harder, but honestly, Kuroo wouldn’t have traded it for anything. He managed to pull his jeans, socks, and sweatshirt off before tucking him in.

When he went to throw their dirty clothes in the overflowing laundry basket, though, he spotted a pile of wadded up paper in the waste basket, and being the nosey person he was, Kuroo pulled it out and read.

Read all the pathetic, choppy attempts at writing some kind of birthday love letter by his boyfriend. And his heart leapt.

Sure, they barely made sense, and weren’t the typical sickeningly sweet prose one would find in a love letter, but it was the little things. The things he wrote that he liked about Kuroo, like his smile and hair and his hugs, or the way he seemed to know everything about anything, or that he let Kageyama spike his hair into a Mohawk when they took a shower together – which Kageyama found endlessly hilarious.

He smoothed out every attempt at the letter and pulled out a big textbook, slipping them inside so his boyfriend wouldn’t find them and throw them out again, changed, and crawled into bed next to him.

Kuroo pulled Kageyama close, kissing the top of his head and drifting off, comfortable and content, after probably the best birthday he’s had.

**Author's Note:**

> find me on twitter and tumblr @tobieaux! (commissions page available on tumblr)  
> Kudos shares and comments ESPECIALLY are very much appreciated, they are a writers lifeblood!


End file.
